By Carmenlita Castillo
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms.
Charles was born during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and became heir apparent when his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, acceded to the throne in 1952. He was created Prince of Wales in 1958 and his investiture was held in 1969. He was educated at Cheam School and Gordonstoun, and later spent six months at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia. After completing a history degree from the University of Cambridge, Charles served in the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy from 1971 to 1976. After his 1981 wedding to Lady Diana Spencer, they had two sons, William and Harry. After years of estrangement and well-publicised extramarital affairs, Charles and Diana divorced in 1996. Diana died from injuries sustained in a car crash the following year. In 2005, Charles married his long-time partner, Camilla Parker Bowles.
As heir apparent, Charles undertook official duties and engagements on behalf of his mother and represented the United Kingdom on visits abroad. He founded the Prince’s Trust in 1976, sponsored the Prince’s Charities and became patron or president of more than 800 other charities and organisations. He advocated for the conservation of historic buildings and the importance of traditional architecture in society. In that vein, he generated the experimental new town of Poundbury. An environmentalist, Charles supported organic farming and action to prevent climate change during his time as the manager of the Duchy of Cornwall estates, earning him awards and recognition as well as criticism. He is also a prominent critic of the adoption of genetically modified food, while his support for alternative medicine has been criticised. He has authored or co-authored 17 books.
Charles became king upon his mother’s death in 2022. At the age of 73 he was the oldest person to accede to the British throne, after having been the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales in British history. Significant events in his reign have included his coronation in 2023 and his cancer diagnosis the following year, the latter of which temporarily suspended planned public engagements.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Robert Fulton (inventor) –
- Claude Monet (Visual artist; born in Paris, France) –
- Frederick Jackson Turner (historian) –
- Sonia Delaunay (artist) –
- Mamie Doud Eisenhower (U.S. First Lady) –
- Astrid Lindgren (author) –
- Sherwood Schwartz (writer & producer) –
- Veronica Lake (actress) –
- Brian Keith (actor) –
- Edward White (astronaut) –
- King Charles III of England –
- Willie Hernandez (baseball player) –
- Condoleezza Rice (U.S. Secretary of State) –
- Curt Schilling (baseball player) –
- Josh Duhamel (actor) –
- Chip Gaines (home improvement expert) –
Died
- Booker T. Washington (educator & activist) –
- Eddie Bracken (actor) –
Events
- First Western theatrical production in North America, Le Theatre de Neptune, performed –
- Louis Timothee became the first salaried librarian in the U.S.”“ –
- Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, was first published in the U.S. –
- Journalist Nellie Bly left N.Y.C. for tour around the world in 72 days –
- Eugene Ely piloted the first airplane take-off from a ship –
- Yale University announces that it will begin admitting women as undergraduate students in 1969 –
- Apollo 12 spacecraft successfully launched from Cape Kennedy –
- Princess Anne married Captain Mark Phillips at Westminster Abbey –
- Second successful landing of space shuttle Columbia –
- Jean Drapeau became mayor of Montreal for 8th time –
- First cabooseless Canadian Pacific train left Winnipeg, Manitoba, bound for Thunder Bay, Ontario –
- The catch of a two-color, male/female Maine lobster, nicknamed Bowie, was announced. –
Weather
- Violent, easterly gales in New York City flooded cellars and spoiled wharves –
- 36 seconds into its flight to the Moon, Apollo 12 was struck by lightning, and again 20 seconds later, knocking out its electronic navigation system, and nearly forcing the mission to be “scrubbed” –
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